The Sanyasi

            
The renowned Vedic scholar, Rajbali Pandey, in his outstanding work, Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments”, while discussing the funeral Samskaras of the ascetics, makes a significant remark, “But after the transition of Hinduism from Vedism or Brahmanism to Puranism and Tantraism, Sanyasa came to be regarded as Kalivarjya. Though Shankaracharya broke this prohibition by his example, Sanyasa never became popular in Hinduism again. The modern Sadhus belong to different sects, following Jnaanamaarga or Bhaktimaarga, and they cannot be properly called Sanyasins.”